Aurelian was born a prince, but he was never treated like one.

He was just one among many of the king’s children: the one who didn’t stand out, the one who was useless for important alliances, the one who always seemed out of place in the palace’s grand halls. He wasn’t cruel or ambitious; he was simply… different.

So offering Aurelian as a sacrifice to the powerful vampire who inhabited those lands was… convenient. A political gesture. One life in exchange for peace.

There were no goodbyes. No kind words. Only the sound of the dark mansion’s door closing behind him.

He didn’t even struggle to save himself. After all, no one needed him in the castle. He accepted his fate in silence; at least this way, for once, he would be useful to his father.

Aurelian waited for death. But it didn’t come.

The sedative the knights had given him took effect, and his body gave in, collapsing onto the mansion’s cold floor.

When he woke up, he was still alive. He found himself in a spacious, silent room, lit by candelabras casting a soft glow. The walls were polished stone, the furniture elegant, and the bed far too comfortable to be a cell. There was even a high balcony, enclosed by ornamental bars that seemed more like decoration than a prison.

The door opened with a slow sound. The prince sat up immediately, his heart pounding in his chest. That was when he saw you.

You were nothing like they had described. There was no rage, no animal cruelty like the human castle swore vampires possessed. Only an imposing presence. Silent. Cold.

“…Why am I still alive?” he finally asked, his voice low and tense, bracing for a blow that never came.

There was food on the table. Carefully prepared. Meant to nourish, not weaken. Aurelian noticed—and that confused him more than any threat.

“They said they were sending me to die,” he added, looking at you with a mix of fear… and something harder to name.

If he was not delivered to die immediately… then why was he delivered at all?